A neoplasm, or tumor, is an abnormal, unregulated, and disorganized proliferation of cell growth. A neoplasm is malignant, or cancerous, if it has properties of destructive growth, invasiveness and metastasis. Invasiveness refers to the local spread of a neoplasm by infiltration or destruction of surrounding tissue, typically breaking through the basal laminas that define the boundaries of the tissues, thereby often entering the body's circulatory system. Metastasis typically refers to the dissemination of tumor cells by lymphotics or blood vessels. Metastasis also refers to the migration of tumor cells by direct extension through serous cavities, or subarachnoid or other spaces. Through the process of metastasis, tumor cell migration to other areas of the body establishes neoplasms in areas away from the site of initial appearance.
Cancer is now the second leading cause of death in the United States and over 8,000,000 persons in the United States have been diagnosed with cancer. In 1995, cancer accounted for 23.3% of all deaths in the United States. (See U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Health United States 1996-97 and Injury Chartbook 117 (1997)).
Cancer is not fully understood on the molecular level. It is known that exposure of a cell to a carcinogen such as certain viruses, certain chemicals, or radiation, leads to DNA alteration that inactivates a “suppressive” gene or activates an “oncogene”. Suppressive genes are growth regulatory genes, which upon mutation, can no longer control cell growth. Oncogenes are initially normal genes (called prooncogenes) that by mutation or altered context of expression become transforming genes. The products of transforming genes cause inappropriate cell growth. More than twenty different normal cellular genes can become oncogenes by genetic alteration. Transformed cells differ from normal cells in many ways, including cell morphology, cell-to-cell interactions, membrane content, cytoskeletal structure, protein secretion, gene expression and mortality (transformed cells can grow indefinitely).
Cancer is now primarily treated with one or a combination of three types of therapies: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Surgery involves the bulk removal of diseased tissue. While surgery is sometimes effective in removing tumors located at certain sites, for example, in the breast, colon, and skin, it cannot be used in the treatment of tumors located in other areas, such as the backbone, nor in the treatment of disseminated neoplastic conditions such as leukemia.
Chemotherapy involves the disruption of cell replication or cell metabolism. It is used most often in the treatment of breast, lung, and testicular cancer.
The adverse effects of systemic chemotherapy used in the treatment of neoplastic disease is most feared by patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Of these adverse effects nausea and vomiting are the most common and severe side effects. Other adverse side effects include cytopenia, infection, cachexia, mucositis in patients receiving high doses of chemotherapy with bone marrow rescue or radiation therapy; alopecia (hair loss); cutaneous complications (see M. D. Abeloff, et al: Alopecia and Cutaneous Complications. P. 755-56. In Abeloff, M. D., Armitage, J. O., Lichter, A. S., and Niederhuber, J. E. (eds) Clinical Oncology. Churchill Livingston, New York, 1992, for cutaneous reactions to chemotherapy agents), such as pruritis, urticaria, and angioedema; neurological complications; pulmonary and cardiac complications in patients receiving radiation or chemotherapy; and reproductive and endocrine complications.
Chemotherapy-induced side effects significantly impact the quality of life of the patient and may dramatically influence patient compliance with treatment.
Additionally, adverse side effects associated with chemotherapeutic agents are generally the major dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) in the administration of these drugs. For example, mucositis, is one of the major dose limiting toxicity for several anticancer agents, including the antimetabolite cytotoxic agents 5-FU, methotrexate, and antitumor antibiotics, such as doxorubicin. Many of these chemotherapy-induced side effects if severe, may lead to hospitalization, or require treatment with analgesics for the treatment of pain.
The adverse side effects induced by chemotherapeutic agents and radiation therapy have become of major importance to the clinical management of cancer patients.
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